John Birch Society

American  

noun

1. an ultraconservative organization, founded in December 1958 by Robert Welch, Jr., chiefly to combat alleged Communist activities in the U.S.

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John Birch Society British  

noun

1. politics a fanatical right-wing association organized along semisecret lines to fight Communism

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John Birch Society Cultural  

1. A conservative organization prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. The society was particularly concerned with the dangers of communism, and its views were considered extreme by most Americans.

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Etymology

Origin of John Birch Society

C20: named after John Birch (killed by Chinese communists 1945), American USAF captain whom its members regarded as the first cold-war casualty

Example Sentences

I think the American Mercury, like the John Birch Society in general and the magazine American Opinion in particular, were real rivals for conservative influence to Buckley and National Review.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2024

But the John Birch Society itself is largely forgotten, relegated to a pair of squat buildings along a busy commercial street in small-town Wisconsin.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 21, 2024

Most notably, he powered a 1961 editorial exposé revealing the skulduggery and character assassination employed by the John Birch Society, rabid anti-Communists who had risen to prominence in California.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2023

Skousen, who died in 2006, was a member of the John Birch Society, which opposed civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s and also promoted a number of conspiracy theories.

From Slate • Jun. 29, 2023

In the fifties and sixties the John Birch Society had had a significant membership in Odessa.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger